marc mcewan- portfolio may 2012

Marc McEwan

695 Park Ave Apt 2Albany, NY 12208(845) 321-2243

marcmcwn@gmail.com

Teaching PhilosophyLessonsUnitsAssessments

ESL

*Hyperlinks are clickable in Slide Show mode*Click Home on any page to return to this slide

• To teach effectively one needs to get to know his/her students; Their strengths, needs, interests, etc.

• Promote independence wherever/whenever possible

• Collaboration is key; between teachers and also between students

My Teaching Philosophy

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• Bugs! (Kindergarten- Intermediate)

• Elements of a Story– Writer’s workshop (Grades 2-4 Intermediate/Advanced)

• Colombian Exchange (Grade 7 Sheltered US History, Mixed proficiency)

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Lessons

BUGS!

• Students learned about bugs through multiple modalities including manipulatives, reading, writing and speaking

• Students learned or reinforced bug vocabulary, discussed the verbs hop, fly, walk and what physical structures are necessary to complete those actions, and practiced sentence writing and letter formation

• Reinforcement of sight words what, can, and do

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BUGS!

Bug Manipulatives

Students orally answered the questions• What kind of

bug is this?• What can it do?• How do you

know?

Students then matched each manipulative to its picture on the worksheet

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BUGS!

Students practiced reading, letter formation and bug vocabulary with My Book of Bug Words

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BUGS!I read the story Amazing Ants aloud while the students took turns acting out the ants actions from the book using the ant manipulative, so I could check comprehension

The students wrote sentences answering the question “What can ants do?” using their sight words what, can, and do and they also drew a picture to correspond with their sentences

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BUGS! FeedbackIn this lesson/activity, Marc did an excellent job of:• Using every minute of the class period for meaningful

instruction• Clearly setting the agenda at the beginning of class• Preparing a lesson with several stimulating parts

focusing on multiple ELA standards• Capitalizing on high student interest in the topic• Engaging the student in fluid and focused

conversation• Assisting the development of fine motor (printing)

skills by using a model for reference and providing appropriately lined spaces on papers for guidance

• Using a variety of materials – models, pictures, ditto, story book, etc.

• Doing a quick assessment of recall after the story

(Feedback from Clinical Supervisor- Dee Warner)Home

Elements of a Story– Writer’s workshop

• Students reviewed the elements of a story which they had been learning about throughout the year

• Students selected a slip of paper from each bag and wrote a story using their random story elements

HomeElements of a story cut-outs from havefunteaching.com

Elements of a Story– Writer’s workshop

4th grade-Intermediate 3rd

grade-Beginner

2nd grade-Advanced

Students wrote their stories and gave one another feedback using a revision checklist as a guide

Appropriate for multiple proficiency

levels and ages

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The Colombian ExchangeThis 7th grade mixed proficiency sheltered English class was starting a unit on the relationship between the Americas and Europe during early U.S. History

This lesson served as a basis for a conceptual understanding of the trade between Europe and the Americas as well as a vocabulary builder for trade goods

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The Colombian ExchangeThe

AmericasEurope

o One side of the room was designated North America while the other was Europe

o Each student received a sheet of paper with a good

o Students determined from which continent their product originated and “traded” it with a student with a product from the other side

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• Space (3rd Grade- Beginner)• Using Your Imagination (1st

Grade- Advanced)• The Headless Horseman (6th-8th

Grade- Beginner)

Units of Study

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Space!

• Students were exposed to new space vocabulary and concepts from a number of non fiction sources including the story The Night Sky, the mini-vocabulary builder Space (readinga-z.com) and The New Oxford Picture Dictionary

• Students had the opportunity to independently apply their new knowledge by writing a fictional space story using the writing process

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Space!We first read the books as a group

(Space is a projectable book

from readinga-z.com)

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Space!

The students then read independently and had the opportunity to use new vocabulary by contributing

to the book Home

Space!Students then explored more

space vocabulary independently using The New Oxford Picture

Dictionary…

…and defined their new vocabulary in their notebooks using their own words Home

PrewritingFirst Draft Revise

Students plan out thoughts using graphic organizer Write their first drafts

Edit their work and make corrections using revision checklist

Space!

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Space!

Student’s work is displayed so that the student feels a sense of accomplishment and authorship

Final

Draft

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Imagination

• Students explored the concept of imagination through multiple modalities including text, song, and video

• Students learned about using quotation marks for dialogue within a story

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ImaginationAs a group the students did concept development on the word imagination and gave examples times they’ve pretended or imagined

We then watched the animated book I’m Never Alone on raz-kids.com and discussed the different things one can imagine while reading a book

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Imagination

Students read the story independently and then contributed their own pages to the book

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Imagination

We had a read aloud of the story In the Attic and the students discussed all of the things that the little boy imagined throughout the book

ImaginationStudents watched two videos from watchknowlearn.org about using quotation marks correctly…

…and they completed a worksheet in which they were required to add quotation marks to a dialogue between a mother and son

“ ”

Imagination

Students wrote a dialogue between the boy and the tiger from In the Attic

Writing Connection

Imagination Feedback

In this lesson/activity, Marc did an excellent job of: • Creating a carefully scaffolded ELA lesson with a

stimulating core• Adapting easily to a potential change in plans due to

unforeseen circumstances• Encouraging student participation in a brainstorming

activity• Keeping a chatty child in focus• Modeling the writing process and writing himself…

remarked upon by students• Tying examples of imagination or pretend games to

students’ real experiences on the playground• Interacting naturally and with gentle, but firm,

expectations

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The Headless Horseman• Students read the story

The Headless Horseman in a unit which included concept development of scary stories, concept development and vocabulary building of character traits and motives, and discussion of literary subtext

• Students completed an assessment at the end of the unit

The Headless Horseman

We discussed the setting of the story and I tied it into their developing map skills

I started the unit by doing a concept development on scary stories. I asked the students to give me words and concepts that they associate with the word scary

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The Headless Horseman

We discussed the new vocabulary and reviewed it daily prior to reading the story

The text was high interest but a low reading level appropriate for beginner level English Language Learners of Middle School age

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The Headless Horseman Character Traits

We discussed the words trait and motive and as a group the students came up with traits that described me and figured out what my motive is as a teacher Home

The Headless Horseman Character Traits

We then discussed the traits and motives of each character in the story

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The Headless Horseman Character Traits

The students identified the traits and motives of each character using a word bank for support

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The Headless Horseman

At the end of the unit the students completed a collaborative centers-based assessment

1) Read to a partner

2)Test

partner with

vocabulary

flashcards

3) Vocabulary Cloze Activity

4) Story Sequence Activity

After the assessment we watched the Disney’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and the students contrasted it with the book Home

The Headless Horseman Character TraitsFeedback

In this lesson/activity, Marc did an excellent job of:• Creating an integrated unit with a highly engaging story as

an anchor• Using pictures, charts, moveable cutouts, graphic

organizers, hand-drawn illustrations, acting out, and verbal clues to provide/stimulate recognition and build vocabulary

• Capitalizing on student interest in the form of word list generation to increase involvement

• Using cues from observing student understanding (or lack of) by using a concrete example of his own traits

• Eliciting student response from all students• Managing materials and keeping the flow of the lesson on

target • Fostering verbalization by maintaining a respectful,

friendly, interested response mode

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• U.S. Regions Unit Assessment (Beginner 6th-8th grade)

• The Headless Horseman Unit Assessment (Beginner 6th-8th grade)

• Modified 8th

grade Industrialization Unit Test (Sheltered Social Studies)

• Quarter Progress Monitor (Elementary)

Assessments

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U.S. Regions Unit Assessment

• After a 3 week long unit on the regions of the United states which included map skills, chart reading, climate and weather vocabulary, geographical feature vocabulary and discussion of American life and culture in these different regions

• Test administered to a group of 15 beginner level students grades 6 through 8

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U.S. Regions Unit Assessment

Students labeled compass rose and U.S. regions using a word bank for support

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U.S. Regions Unit Assessment

Each student received a map of a different state and a regions chart and answered with his/her individual responses

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U.S. Regions Unit Assessment

Students matched each geographical feature to its corresponding picture

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U.S. Regions Unit Assessment Feedback

In this lesson/activity, Marc did a good job of:• Preparing a summary quiz for his unit on geographical features• Presenting materials in the quiz in a variety of ways to help

learners with differing styles and different language capabilities• Interacting with students in a positive, helpful, manner• Working diligently with each reader, making sure progress is

being made• Managing a diverse group of students with humor and structure• Creating a welcoming environment for all ESL students,

including those from the classroom next door• Partnering smoothly with his Cooperating Teacher, easily

sharing space and students

(Feedback from Clinical Supervisor- Dee Warner)

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The Headless Horseman Unit Assessment

• After a week long unit on the story The Headless Horseman which included concept development of scary stories, concept development and vocabulary building of character traits and motives, and discussion of subtext students completed a unit assessment

• 14 beginner students rotated between 4 stations with a partner and completed each task

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The Headless Horseman Unit Assessment

1) Read to

a partner

2)Test

partner with

vocabulary

flashcards

3) Vocabulary Cloze Activity

4) Story Sequence Activity

Students rotated between 4 stations and checked off each task as it was completed. Students were required to: Home

The Headless Horseman Unit Assessment

Station 1• Students take

turns reading test to one another

Station 2• Students take

turns testing one another with vocabulary flashcards

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The Headless Horseman Unit Assessment

Station 3

• Students complete a cloze activity using a word bank with the story vocabulary

Station 4

• Students sequence the story using sentence strips

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Modified 8th Grade History Industrialization Unit Test

• This test modified from 8th grade U.S. History unit exam on the industrial revolution

• Changes made:• Added

visuals• Word banks• Simplified

language• Condensed

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Quarter Progress Report (Elementary)

• Assesses student’s progress in 3 domains (Oral production, Reading, and Writing) using student work samples and informal observations

• Assesses student’s current stage in the English language acquisition process

(All forms and rubrics from Shenendehowa Central Schools ESL Department)

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Oral Production, Reading and

WritingRubrics

Quarter Progress Report (Elementary)

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Quarter Progress Report (Elementary)Progress in each language domain is marked in the

corresponding column. Written report gives the parent/guardian a more specific view of student progress

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Thank you for your consideration

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“The magic glasses of English enable speakers to behold the world on a global

scale, and to shape life on our fast-changing planet in a language that is,

itself, quickly changing.”-Leslie Dunton-Downer, The English is

Coming!